NCAA tournament moderator mistakes Tennessee for Texas in opening news conference
A group of Tennessee players sat down for their customary news conference on Thursday ahead of their first round matchup in the NCAA tournament against No. 15 Colgate in Columbus, Ohio.
Except there was one problem. The moderator didn’t know who they were.
“As you can see, we have a record showing from Texas,” the moderator started off attempting to introduce the players.
Quickly, the five Vols players started looking around confused — and rightfully so.
“I’m sorry, Tennessee,” the moderator then corrected himself. “Good start!”
Not a great start for the NCAA moderator at today's #Vols press conference. #WrongUT pic.twitter.com/YYtzu5ZXWz
— Dave Foster (@DaveFoster17) March 21, 2019
While all he had to do was simply look up and read the name of the school printed across the five players’ jerseys on the podium to get the correct team, it’s truly not an outlandish mistake to make. Tennessee and Texas share the same school colors, and are both abbreviated “UT.”
But only Tennessee — who held the No. 1 ranking in the country for a significant stretch of the season — earned a bid to the NCAA tournament. Texas, on the other hand, is playing more than 1,200 miles away in the NIT.
While the two schools may look similar on paper, they clearly boast two very different basketball programs — only one of which has the chance to win the national championship next month, starting with its matchup against the Raiders on Friday night.
Hey, at least the moderator caught his mistake early.
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